Stainless Stockman

J

jth250

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Jun 27, 2011
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I am looking to buy a stainless steel stockman. I have been looking at the old USA made Uncle Henry 885 but don't know much about them. I am wanting something that will hold a good edge. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
buck 301 or the smaller 303 is always a good choice, very strong and capable knives, in 420HC steel, very good heat treat on that steel.
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but also, case has many models available in CV and SS both, if you prefer other scale materials.
im sure others will come with more ideas.
 
Buck just might be your best bet unless you want to go custom.

Queen has some Stockman offerings in D2 which is just shy of a stainless steel. You might find that its edge holding properties outweigh the fact that it isn't a full fledged stainless steel.

Schatt & Morgan has the File & Wire Series in ATS-34 but I don't know if there is a F&W Stockman.
 
Case SS 3347 Large Stockman. The knife is 3 7/8" long and should be able to handle any chore thrown at it. These newer knives are 3-spring knives. This knife has yellow delrin covers but knives of the same pattern and size are available with stag and bone covers as well.

case3347ssyellowdelrins.jpg


case3347ssyellowdelrins.jpg
 
Buck 301, hands down. The Yellow scaled ones in particular seem to have a higher level of fit and finish.

Buck's heat treat of 420HC is much superior to Case's heat treat of Tru-Sharp.

If you consider D2 stainless, which it almost sort of is, and if you have diamond hones to fix the butter knife factory edges, you could also consider Queen. Nice Scales.
 
I have my Buck Stockman in my pocket right now. I spent a lot of time thinning out the edge and removing the grind lines and it cuts and looks much better now.

I'm probably going to be getting a yellow 303 Cadet though. The 301 is getting to be a wee bit too big for my tastes
 
knarfeng said:
Buck 301, hands down. The Yellow scaled ones in particular seem to have a higher level of fit and finish.

Buck's heat treat of 420HC is much superior to Case's heat treat of Tru-Sharp.
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For the most part I have to agree with you; however, it'll be interesting to see if Buck's superior heat treat of 420HC continues since their champion of heat treat (Paul Bos) retired a year or so ago.

I don't think anyone can go wrong with any of the fine offerings by Buck, Queen, Case, etc. today.
 
Schatt&Morgan did a really nice looking Stockman some years back in stainless, I think it had a Pen blade rather than a Spey.

You might like to consider CASE's Humpback Stockman,a bit different from the usual pattern in frame and blades, nice semi sunk joints make it a tidy pocket carry too.
 
Canal Street Cutlery is using 440C in some of their stockman knives. You have to watch carefully though; some of their knives are made with a lower grade 420. I'm confident that 420 would suit me just fine in a small pocketknife, but for same the price I'd sure rather have 440C.

I have bought two Queen knives recently and the quality is very good, near excellent. The "Amber Carved Stag Bone" is stunning, and they have multiple stockman and similar patterns using D2 steel.

Looking at older Schrade knives like the Uncle Henry you mentioned, some Old Timer knives were done in stainless. Here's a USA-made Old Timer Classic stockman with bone handles and stainless blades.
OTC.jpg
 
I'd probably go Buck, were it me. I don't like SS much, but my buck is a good knife.
 
Try Boker's 440C, some of the best 440c around. Holds an edge well and is easy to resharpen the way they heat treat it.
 
Javelin said:
Try Boker's 440C, some of the best 440c around. Holds an edge well and is easy to resharpen the way they heat treat it.
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Good call, I forgot about that. My whittler (henckels) gets sharper then you would ever need and it holds the edge WELL. :)
 
Hard to go wrong with buck when it comes to stainless the 301 and 303 are both great EDC sized stockmans I'm kinda partial to the larger 301 myself but the 303 is a more than adequete size.
 
Modoc ED said:
For the most part I have to agree with you; however, it'll be interesting to see if Buck's superior heat treat of 420HC continues since their champion of heat treat (Paul Bos) retired a year or so ago.

I don't think anyone can go wrong with any of the fine offerings by Buck, Queen, Case, etc. today.
Click to expand...

The art part of heat treat is discovering the sequence and combination of temperatures and dwell times which will produce the properties you seek. Once you know that information, it is merely a matter of maintaining the equipment and the discipline of doing things right. I have no doubt Buck retains the knowledge, the maintenance schedules and the training.
 
knarfeng said:
Buck's heat treat of 420HC is much superior to Case's heat treat of Tru-Sharp.
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The 301 and 303 are great knives, no doubt. And their steel might edge out Case's SS (pardon the pun). But personally, I'd still opt for the Case. For me, the clincher is Case's flatter, thinner blade profile. IMO, the blades on Buck's slipjoints are too thick. YMMV.

-- Mark
 
Case's SS gets something of a bad rep around here, but I'm not sure why. I use both Tru Sharp and CV knives, and I don't notice a heck of a lot of diffence. Both take a nice edge, the only downside being no patina on the SS.
 
Lots of good options mentioned so far. If you keep on the hunt for one the 885 Uncle Henry is a nice piece. The edge holding is good on mine and it is very easy to resharpen.

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I think the Uncle Henry knives used 440A stainless. It does take a very fine edge, and easily so. Reminds me of the stainless in Victorinox SAKs, in terms of how easily it sharpens up to a shaving-sharp edge. The older, Camillus-made Buck 300 series also used it, and I fell in love with the easy maintainability of the edges on my 307 stockman.
 
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